NEW YORK-Moody’s Investors Service said Oct. 14 it had assigned a speculative grade rating of B1 to Audiovox Corp.’s $95 million senior secured revolving credit facility, which matures in 2000.
Audiovox, headquartered in Hauppauge, N.Y., reported about $600 million in revenues for the fiscal year that ended in November 1996. About two thirds of its revenues come from the sales of cellular phone products and services. The company’s targeted markets are Asia, Latin America and the United States, and it benefits from “a growing market for new and replacement cellular phone products,” Moody’s said.
Earlier this year, Audiovox converted about $63 million of debt into equity, “strengthening its capital base and freeing up cash flow for investment in its business,” Moody’s said.
The rating agency said it looks favorably upon this action because it improved Audiovox’s financial condition and reduced its interest costs.
Calling Audiovox “a quick follower of technological innovation rather than a leader,” Moody’s said Audiovox’s strategy “is appropriate to the mid-priced niche it seeks to serve, (and) its products offer features commonly desired by consumers.”
Late in 1999, Audiovox plans to begin distributing Time Division Multiple Access and Code Division Multiple Access handsets. These new product offerings “will enhance its position in the fast growing digital segment of the market,” said the New York-based ratings firm.
